


To Fight Another Day

by MachineQueen



Series: Ferdibert Class Swap AU [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Class Swap AU, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24802909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachineQueen/pseuds/MachineQueen
Summary: In the thick of battle, it's easy to lose sight of the real enemy.Class swap AU. Ferdinand is an angsty, hyper dark mage and Hubert a grumpy cavalier.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Series: Ferdibert Class Swap AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059203
Comments: 25
Kudos: 158





	To Fight Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> This was for the delayed Ferbie zine. The idea of a feral Ferdie chucking magic around without a thought was one I very much enjoyed.
> 
> I considered expanding it because of the high angst potential but what do you think?
> 
> EDIT: Clover drew some gorgeous art to go alongside this! https://twitter.com/lovemapotofu/status/1276377016648990720

Blood dripped down his cheek. Ferdinand growled, a furious primal sound. It would not do for him to die in some muddy field, having accomplished nothing. 

Dark magic crackled in the air. It sizzled through Ferdinand’s blood, sparked on his skin. His hair whipped back behind him as he loosed a spell. The enemy soldier crumpled to the ground, helpless. Ferdinand tipped his head back and sighed as the siphoned life force flowed back to him. When he put a hand to his cheek, it no longer bled. 

One down, fifty million to go. Soldiers were surrounding him on all sides but that didn’t matter. This was an opportunity for Ferdinand to prove exactly what he was worth to the Empire. 

Flipping open his tome, he found the spell he’d only recently perfected. As he chanted the incantation, each word tore violently from his throat. For all his smiling and pleasantries, the core of him was burning to prove he belonged, that he was a better man than his father. 

With that thought, the spell took hold. The enemy battalion was sent crashing into each other as dark mist descended, chaos and confusion leaving Ferdinand little work to do. He watched the soldiers striking at one another, trying to find him and only finding each other. Panic thickened in the air and soon soldiers were fleeing left and right, trying to escape what Ferdinand had brought down on them. Wyverns roared and horses bolted. Ferdinand watched it all with both dread and satisfaction in his bones, wondering how and why he’d been cursed with such a power.

“You damned _monster_!”

A cavalier charged at him, tears streaming, mouth open in a wordless scream. He threw himself out of her path. Her lance struck where his head had been only moments before. The narrow escape only served to rile him. 

“Run along now, lest this monster strike you down!”

She swung her horse around and came at him again. Ferdinand grinned, closed his eyes and let instinct do the rest. A cloud of magic swept her away in an unstoppable tide. 

When he opened his eyes again, the world looked blurry. He coughed and tasted magic burning in his mouth. Too much. They must be close to routing the enemy now. Just a little longer...

Hooves thundered towards him and there was a dizzying dark energy bolt in his hands before he could properly think. The approaching horse whinnied in alarm and there was a curse as its rider banked to one side to avoid the spell. Ferdinand gulped - he knew that voice. 

An image from a storybook approached him, a handsome prince on his glorious steed. Hubert von Vestra cut a fine figure, he could admit that much. Even if the face was a little too sharp, a little too haunted and monstrous to fit the illustrations in his favourite books. 

“Just what in the hells are you doing?” Hubert’s voice was acid. “You could have killed me!”

“Then do not just ride up to me. At least call out so I know that it is you and not someone coming for my head!”

Hubert peered down at him, mouth pressed in a firm line. 

“Stop being careless, von Aegir. I thought I told you to stick to smaller spells. The more elaborate attacks drain you too quickly and cause chaos for the rest of us.”

“As if there is time to think about that when I am fighting for my life!”

“Then fight no more. Get on the horse.”

“I am perfectly capable of making my own way.”

“It’s non-negotiable, von Aegir. If you do not get on of your own accord, I will toss you over the saddle. It’s your choice.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Hubert on his case was the last thing he needed. Ferdinand’s fit of pique was rather ruined when he stumbled and needed to catch himself against the horse's flank. Hubert was correct, he did need to get on the horse, else he would collapse to the ground in a heap. 

"Up," Hubert ordered. "We don't have all day."

Ferdinand managed an ungraceful scramble. Riding two to a horse was slow and bad for the horse’s back. Like this, they were vulnerable. Ferdinand hoped they weren’t going far. Especially as his eyelids felt incredibly heavy. 

Hubert huffed out a sigh. "Hold on to me. You're throwing the horse off balance."

Ferdinand was not in any state to argue further and took two handfuls of cape. Then he let his head slump forwards onto an armoured shoulder. It was unpleasant to have metal pressing into his cheek but he no longer had the strength to hold himself up. Hubert’s presence had rapidly stopped being an inconvenience and become a comfort. It was becoming a trend of late and a disturbing one at that. 

“Von Aegir-” Hubert’s voice sounded hesitant. “You are worrying me.”

As signs went, a worried Hubert was a bad one indeed. His grip on Hubert’s cape tightened. Hubert continued on without comment. 

“If you can’t use your talents sensibly, we will have to put you to work elsewhere.”

Ferdinand snapped to attention. “I just destroyed an entire battalion with no aid. How is that not a sensible use of my talents?”

“You did not think to look up. We had wyverns in the sky. We now have significantly less.”

Ferdinand closed his eyes in resignation. No, he had not looked up. What a fool he was. Again. 

***

The battle was won but it was a long trek back to the monastery and Ferdinand was too far gone to cling to a horse. Byleth promised she would look after Lady Edelgard if Hubert stayed with Ferdinand. It irked him, but bar leaving Ferdinand behind there wasn’t much choice. Ferdinand was too out of it to protest - he was drained, pale, listless. Not himself at all. It hurt more than it should to see him that way. 

Hubert made their camp on high ground, where they would see anyone approach. He secured another horse for Ferdinand, a brown mare left riderless after the battle. Ferdinand instantly fell in love with her, which seemed to raise his spirits a little. 

What a mess. Ferdinand had become a complete loose cannon. No one wanted to go into battle anywhere near him. He left a trail of destruction in his wake, without discerning friend from foe.

Hubert could not tolerate someone who would harm Lady Edelgard’s chances of victory. The logical thing to do would be to get rid of him. It would be easy enough for Hubert to engineer. A little something in Ferdinand’s drink, a slip of Hubert’s blade and that would be that. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t done before. What did it matter that it was Ferdinand von Aegir? In fact, that was probably another good reason to kill him. Hubert found his eye inexplicably drawn to Ferdinand time and time again and it was a distraction he didn’t need. 

He could even do it now, get it over with. Ferdinand was currently curled up in front of their meagre campfire, looking docile as a monastery kitten. The knowledge he’d scored a spectacular own goal had left him quiet and withdrawn. Perhaps Hubert should have spared him from it. A final kindness.

Slowly he approached Ferdinand. Leant over him, brushed the long hair from his neck. That hair was feather-soft against his fingers, the grime of the battlefield doing little to dim its vibrance. Ferdinand stirred at the soft touch.

“Hubert?”

Bleary eyes blinked at him. Ferdinand offered a wan smile and Hubert’s heart gave a little jump. Ferdinand was the only person other than Lady Edelgard not afraid of being vulnerable in front of him. Like it or not, that trust meant something. 

“Thank you. For coming to get me.”

“This cannot carry on,” warned Hubert. 

“I know.”

“If you cannot use dark magic sensibly-”

“I never wanted it,” Ferdinand blurted. “My father pushed it upon me.”

Hubert stiffened at the mention of Duke von Aegir. A despicable man. Hubert had given up trying to understand how he’d managed to sire an heir like Ferdinand, who was everything he wasn’t. Ferdinand sat up and ran his fingers through his hair, a far away look in his eyes.

“It does not matter now. I will use what I know to assist Lady Edelgard. To try and atone for what he has done.”

Hubert put an awkward hand on Ferdinand’s shoulder and let it linger there. 

“That was not your fault,” Hubert said, because sometimes people liked it when you told them things that were obvious.

Ferdinand looked at him with something between gratitude and disbelief. Then he shifted closer to Hubert’s side. He pressed his cheek against the gloved hand on his shoulder. It was gratifying that Ferdinand was as clumsy in his affections as Hubert was. 

“I am still a von Aegir.”

“Very well, I admit it. I only saved you because my horse would miss you.”

It startled Ferdinand into laughing, which Hubert liked a damn sight better than the moping.

“Charming! In that case, I shall have to keep spoiling her.”

“See that you do. And no more reckless spells. I do not want you felled by our own troops.”

Somehow, entirely of its own accord, Hubert’s hand slipped and then his whole arm was around Ferdinand’s shoulders. Ferdinand made no comment, just sank further into him, until he was so close Hubert could hear his every breath. It was far too late to do anything but concede to himself that he really did care for this stupid hurricane of a man. A man who smiled in the face of defeat and never, ever stopped pressing forward. 


End file.
